Your stories about the Colorado Rockies, their unbelievable success and the bond between a manager and a dying 15-year-old boy (“Remarkable Rockies’ magic number is ’64’,” Oct. 14 Mark Kiszla column) are truly compelling. My son and I are connecting in a positive way watching the Rockies, and he is even reading the newspaper! This team is truly international and befits the title “coalition of the willing,” as they display a unique sense of class not normally seen in athletics these days. These are our men playing a boy’s game while we have our “boys” in Iraq playing one man’s game. For a brief period, this team and your stories bring us hope in a time of despair and shed light where there is darkness. Read more…

Senator Ken Salazar deserves Coloradans’ thanks for his recent statement supporting a significant withdrawal of troops and possibly cutting off funding for anything but bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq. With a growing majority of Coloradans opposing the ongoing war in Iraq as well as countless lives lost and over $450 billion spent, it’s time for everyone in Colorado’s congressional delegation to support plans to the end the war. Read more…

Once again there has been a terrible tragedy, multiple murders by a deranged killer. Aren’t we ever going to learn? There is no way that the “authorities” can guarantee our safety! At Columbine, there was a deputy sheriff stationed at the school to guarantee student safety. It didn’t work. WE, you and I and other honest citizens, have to be responsible for our own safety, and the safety of our fellow citizens. WE have to be able to confront the violent “crazies” and stop them, because the “authorities” won’t, and simply can’t, be there. Read more…

National Book Critics Circle president John Freeman presented a wonderful list of books that everyone should have the pleasure of reading and re-reading, but he made one glaring error. No part of Mikhail Bulgakov’s wondrous novel, “The Master and Margarita” takes place in Poland. Not only is the story set in Moscow and other parts of the Soviet Union, but the city itself and the entire Soviet state can be seen as major characters of the book. To accidentally place any part of “The Master and Margarita” in Poland is akin to misplacing parts of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in England. Fortunately for Mr. Freeman, Bulgakov had a great sense of humor, so rather than turning over in his grave or cursing the modern-day editor, he’s probably having a good chuckle at this embarrassing error.

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